- Detach face with LCD display and front aux input
- MP3/WMA music file playback
- Bluetooth technology with HFP, A2DP, OPP and AVRCP support
- USB 1-Wire for iPod, iPhone and USB music devices
- Intuitive Quick-BrowZer and ZAPPIN search features
PROS:
1) The quality of the hands-free calling is excellent! I can hear the callers very well through my car speakers (volume is loud and easy to hear!). Also, callers can hear me very well without any issues, even while driving at high speeds. Please note, that I use an external microphone Sony XAMC10 External Mic for BT (Black), which I highly recommend purchasing. Please see my review on that external microphone where I have added photos of where I suggest the optimal microphone placement is to get the best qualityi.e. to the left on the visor, which is close to your mouth). I didn't even use the built-in microphone (which is located on the stereo faceplate) because of the published bad reviews about the quality of the built-in microphone. I don't know if some of the issues people are having with hands-free call quality with this car stereo is related to not having an external microphone, or if they have one, whether it is placed in an optimal location.
2) When a phone call comes in, and you're listening to music (even when you're listening to music over Bluetooth via A2DP), the music pauses, and the phone call comes through. When the phone call ends, the music starts right back up. Very smooth.
3) Regarding calling someone in your phonebook, this Sony car stereo unit has PBAP Bluetooth profile, which my Android phone also has. So, the phonebook gets loaded into the car stereo. You hit the search button on the car stereo, and then find the first letter of the person you want to dial, then find the contact and hit the call button. It's not that hard. You could also dial directly from your phone. I've tried voice dialing using my Android phone, and it's hit or miss, since it doesn't always recognize who I want to call (this is the fault of my software on the Android phone, and not the Sony car stereo).
4) I have an Android phone (HTC Thunderbolt) and it connects very easily via Bluetooth to this stereo. I only had to pair it once (when I bought it)!! When I go into my car, I turn on my stereo, then turn on the Bluetooth on my phone, and they pair up in seconds, ready for calls and music. Amazing!
5) This stereo has A2DP Bluetooth profile, which lets you stream music over Bluetooth, if your phone also has this Bluetooth profile. I love this feature, which is very hard to find on most major car stereos! The quality is great. No cords to connect. I don't mind this at all, but when you stream music over Bluetooth, you have to use the phone to control the song selection (i.e. song names don't appear on the car stereo faceplate). I like this better, since the faceplate only has 1 line and it's hard to read and control song names anyway. Since this car stereo has AVRCP Bluetooth profile also, you can pause, rewind, fast forward, move to next song, and move to prior song using the car stereo faceplate. Awesome! I found that using the PowerAmp program on Android, I get full control over songs using the car stereo. However, if I want to go to a different album or playlist, etc... you have to change it from the phone, which like I said, is actually much easier and I prefer it.
-I also play audiobooks using Audible, and it works really well, and you can use the Sony unit's controls to fast forward and rewind.
-I play podcasts over Bluetooth using BeyondPod and it works well. The controls on the Sony car stereo have a bit less control when using BeyondPod (I can't rewind or fast forward for some reason; although I think that program is supposed to have that support).
-Finally, Google Navigation commands will go through Bluetooth streaming too. If you're playing a song, the song won't pause, but the song will mute, and you'll hear the Google Navigation voice prompt. Once the Navigation voice prompt finishes, the song will resume. Pretty nice. I wasn't able to test what happens when you make a phone call, while you're playing music, and using Navigation all at the same time! I would hope that the phone call would take priority over the other two.
CONS:
1) Many have mentioned the bright lights on the unit. I will post some photos of how it looks at day and night (see photos on the main product page; I can't add photos to this review). This unit has 2 faceplate illumination color options (blue or red), so you can change the color. I find blue to be way too bright at night, so I keep it on red, which is not disturbing at all. There is one white colored light (search button) that you can't adjust the color or brightness, which can get annoying. I was thinking about painting it to cover up the brightness, but it doesn't bother me that much anymore, since I'm used to it now.
2) When I connect my Android phone to the stereo via USB cable, you can play music that way. The song titles appear on the car stereo, but it's very hard to navigate given the small screen!! I only tried this once, and haven't used it since. That is why I like the Bluetooth streaming, because I can just control song selection from my phone. I don't have an iPhone or an iPod, so I can't comment on how those work with this unit.
Buy Sony MEXBT3900U In-Dash CD Receiver MP3/WMA/AAC Player with Bluetooth Now
The MEXBT3900U has a significant increase in features over the model which it replaces, the MEXBT3800U. I know this because I have one of each. The 3900 adds features like a 7-band equalizer and an advanced balance/fader control that allows you to pinpoint the perfect listening spot within the car. It also adds phone features, like the ability to upload your contact list, and allow you to scroll through recent and favorite sections of your call list. It also has the ability to set one-touch dialing presets (if you can figure out how to set it up--more on that later.) The button / control layout has been simplified and improved, with a noticable increase in ease of use.I did tons of comparison shopping across brands and models. This Sony is by far the best choice if you 1) want to add bluetooth to your car for phone calls and for audio streaming, 2) want to retain a CD player, 3) you don't care about having a touch screen or navigation, 4) you don't need 30,000 color choices or fancy display graphics unrelated to the music, and 5) two color choices (red & blue) will do fine.
TO assure clarity of you phone calls, you will want to add the external microphone. I know it costs $30 more. But even when you add that in, it still beats out other choices which may have included external mics. If you're going to install it yourself, you will want to get the plastic panel removal tools. The headaches they prevent will be worth far more than their cost.
Nits: 1) The bluetooth lacks the audio quality of the USB connection. This isn't a Sony problem, its a bluetooth problem. Just don't be surprised. Get the bluetooth for convenience purposes and not for audio quality purposes. 2) The Sony is very finicky about how the iPhone / iPod connection is made. MAKE SURE you turn the unit completely off before you connect via USB and before you disconnect the USB and you will have no problems. 3) You may have difficulty setting the phone one-touch-deial presets. Setting these guys requires that the phone be able to send info via SMS, and my iPhone 3Gs cannot do this. So I'm SOL on using the presets. Not a dealbreaker, but annoying nonetheless.
Read Best Reviews of Sony MEXBT3900U In-Dash CD Receiver MP3/WMA/AAC Player with Bluetooth Here
The good stuff:Nice FM tuner that shows artist and song title and station info. Seek works well.
The USB and aux stereo plugs on front work fine. A USB flash drive picked right up and played. It did not power my external 2.5" USB laptop drive, so i use a cigarette lighter to USB adapter to get it to work. There is a limit to the number of files the deck can handle read the manual. I have about 60gb of MP3s available to me and it is usable.
Note that there is a pair of RCA plugs on the back marked "BUS In". However! You cannot just plug anything in there. You have get a "unlink auxiliary adapter" which is basically just a loopback device that fools the deck into thinking something is plugged into the unilink port and thereby enables the RCA inputs. Or you can buy the Sony XA-300 which gives you 2 RCA inputs and a USB port
Sound The best part of this deck! It doesn't seem to say in the specs here on amazon or elsewhere just how MANY sound adjustments there are: High pass filter for main speakers, low pass filter/level for the Sub output, a 7 band EQ, MP3 audio enhancement, and more. Different EQ settings for each source which is a nice touch. Alpine makes you buy a $150 add-on "processor" to do the same stuff. Go download the user manual from Sony. 9/10.
Bluetooth It synched right up to my Droid 2 and plays Stereo audio over bluetooth, displays, searches and dials contacts AND recent calls right on the deck. pretty cool. 9/10
It has a built in MIC on the front but you may want to plug a mic into the 1/8" jack in back and run a wire up to your visor for better clarity.
The quirks:
MP3 PLAYBACK / Search
As seems typical of most decks still the search and display of MP3s is awkward. (after 10 years of MP3's in car stereos why is this still terrible??) By now everyu deck should let you see/browse similar to an Ipod as it is the defacto standard and easy to navigate.
When you hit search it doesnt start at the folder you are in, it starts at the top of the folder tree over again. It's best to search while parked. It takes your eyes off the road too long if you havea lot of music.
You only get 10 characters of the folder/track name then it slowly scrolls the rest of the track title when you stay on it for a bit. I think it has a faster processor in it than some, so at least this deck is quick about scrolling through track titles on USB devices. 7/10 for MP3 support overall.
LIGHTING:
Many cars have a dimmer circuit for the stereo so it dims when headlights come on. This deck isn't wired for that. It has a dimmer on/off, which dims only the LCD. so i dont bother. Despite all these lights there is NO lights on the alternate functions for preset 1-6. These control last/next album, pause etc. Ill have to just memorize it since i cant see it at night.
You can change buttons to red or blue. However the Volume knob, search and back buttons are always white. I used red to lower overall brightness. At least it doesnt have a crazy distracting animated show like some decks have. Overall 8/10.
INSTALLATION:
Install was easy just the usual speaker/power/AMP turn on and RCA plugs to my amp. all industry standard colors.
The only annoyance during install: The mounting bracket that holds the deck in the dash only has about 10 bendable cutouts to mount it. On my car NONE of then line up to where it will hold it securely they are too far back. I ended up using a few small zipties to make it work.
OVERALL:
I've bought 2 Kenwoods and an Alpine in my search for a new stereo. This is first i haven't decided to return the first day i installed it. The kenwoods were loud but had mediocre MP3 support. The alpine was ok but slow, and for a $200 deck to have only a bass/treble EQ ??? forget that.
Want Sony MEXBT3900U In-Dash CD Receiver MP3/WMA/AAC Player with Bluetooth Discount?
Good stuff> Just installed it and everything seems to work as expected. Bluetooth works great with my iPhone4, including audio streaming and phone functions. USB port also works well with the iPhone and you can either control from the stereo or from the iPhone. RDS picks up the artist/song from the radio and shows a * if the FM station supports it. I like having the 6 save buttons on the front for radio stations & phone numbers.Could have been better> some of the controls are not obvious and you have to memorize whether you need to hold a button down for 1 sec or click a button or ... I suppose this will become easier once I have used it for a while. You can't save phone numbers to the preset buttons using an iPhone. I needed to find a phone that supports "share contact using bluetooth". There is no one at Sony that understands this, evidently. It seems to me since the stereo downloads my whole contact list, that I should be able to just assign a contact to a preset just like you assign a radio station (just hold down the button) -but you can't . (1/2 star)
Weird stuff> The remote works great, but you can't switch between using the remote and the stereo buttons. If I turn on the unit on the panel, then the remote does not work. If I turn it on with the remote, then the panel does not work (except for OFF in both cases). This seems unnecessary and a bit strange. (1/4 star)
Unfortunately> The volume knob was not working and I need to send back for free replacement. Works fine from the remote, so it is probably a problem with the front panel. But, I need to disconnect the whole thing and ship it to get a replacement. (1/2 star)
Details> Jeep Grand Cherokee 1998 with Infinity sound system. Just replacing the stereo and interfacing with the Infinity amp works fine if you connect the Power Antenna/Amp Jeep wire to the APM REM on the Sony (part of the standard wiring harness) & hook the Sony ground to the Infinity amp ground. I found a site with good instructions: installdr
Final word: if Sony would update the firmware to fix some of the above annoying problems, then this would be a 5-star stereo. Still, for less than one-fifty, it's a good purchase.
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THis is a very good unit for the price. Lots of good features and the Bluetooth functions were great! All of the various input options helped make the unit very flexible for me, and I love using the bluetooth speakerphone. I stream Pandora and Slacker from my Android phone and it works great.However, there is this insanely bright white button that is used for searching that will absolutely blind you at night! There is no way to dim it either. You can dim the text display, but not any of the backlighting on the buttons. Very stupid! I ended up using my wifes black fingernail polish to paint over the button except for a very small section so that it would not blind me while I was driving at night.
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